January 2011
20 posts
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Update from Cairo
I just spoke to one of my uncles who lives in Heliopolis, one of the more upscale suburbs of Cairo in “masr al-gadeeda”. He told me the following:
The vigilant thugs (in Egypt they are calling them the baltagaya) are still roaming the streets with relative impunity and fear of being arrested. I asked if he thought today was better than yesterday and he told me it feels the same.
...
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#Jan25 Armchair Quarterback
As an American of Egyptian descent, the past 48 hours have been spent following the developments of the popular uprising that began in Egypt on the 25th of January. Like most people, I have primarily done so through Twitter as very few mainstream media outlets are covering the story with the urgency it deserves (side note: I am becoming convinced of more and more that Twitter should be thought of...
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“You have never seen a hero until you have looked in the eyes of a child with...”
– Dr. Ammar Hayanni, my daughter’s pediatric oncologist. Dedicate that quote to her and to a young teenage son of a close family friend who was diagnosed with leukemia this past week.
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Too Young To
The bright side of Sereen being only 2.5 years old is many. Here is my top ten list.
She is too young to:
Comprehend just how serious a diagnosis of cancer is.
Hear and understand all the possible side effects of chemotherapy and thus have a hypochondriac like imagining that she is suffering from these side effects.
Dwell on a bad thing that happened even if it happened a couple of minutes...
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“Cancer is a flaw in our growth, but this flaw is deeply entrenched in ourselves....”
– Siddhartha Mukherjee in his book “The Emperor of All Maladies”. To fully grasp, you need to read the book. Statement may seem pessimistic on the surface. I didn’t take it that way and continue to be optimistic that Sereen’s cancer will be cured.
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They with God
Four weeks have passed since our world changed with the discovery of a large tumor in my daughter’s right abdominal area. We are three weeks into the treatment regiment and if you were to ask about seeing light at the end of the tunnel, I would see we are only just now entering the tunnel.
What the time has afforded me however is a chance to reflect on some of the events and in...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-1-9) →
Classical Arabic Orchestra of Aleppo, Ahmad Hariri (2)
Mohammed Antar (2)
Classical Arabic Orchestra of Aleppo (1)
Classical Arabic Orchestra of Aleppo, Mohamad Maksoud (1)
Ben Harper (1)
Close Read: Holding Giffords’s Hand : The New... →
newyorker:
peterwknox:
This is a READING REQUIREMENT. Short, beautiful, touching, and tough.
Thanks, Josh.
Speechless after reading this.
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Apollo 13, do you copy?
This week meant back to school and back to work for me as we entered week 2 of our 23 week treatment regiment for Sereen.
Beside’s her weekly chemo, the main challenge this week with regards to the treatment protocol was the fact that Monday thru Thursday were to be sessions 3-6 of her 6 total sessions of radiation. Each morning would entail:
- Having to rouse Sereen out of her warm...
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Patience, Patience, Patience
Today I had a conversation via text message with a good friend. I record this on my blog (after getting my friend’s permission) because I hope that the act of recording this will make it available to me as a reminder as my family continues along the road of my daughter’s chemo and radiation therapy.
The friend is Hesham Hassaballa, someone I have known from childhood. In terms of...
“He who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with...”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
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